Hannover Underdogs Against Leipzig

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The first game of the weekend in the Bundesliga will be contested on Friday night as Hannover host RB Leipzig at the HDI Arena.

Hannover are struggling at the foot of the table and begin the weekend sitting in 17th place, which is the relegation zone.  They are only ahead of Nurnberg, who are bottom, by golf difference but a win could see them move up to 16th place.

RB Leipzig are at the top end of the table and competing for a place in next seasons Champions League.  They start the weekend in 4th place but even a win would not move them above Borussia Monchengladbach who are in 3rd spot.

Hannover 96 faced a tough task last weekend as they travelled to top of the table Borussia Dortmund. Their defence could not hold out against the hosts dominant attack and they ended up losing the match 5-1.

That defeat means Hannover have failed to win any of their last eight Bundesliga games, which is a poor record.  There have been six defeats in those eight games and Hannover have picked up just 1 point from the last 15 available.

Scoring goals has been a problem and trends show Hannover have failed to score a single goal in their last four Bundesliga games.  They have lost each of their last four home games and have failed to keep a clean sheet in the last eight, meaning they have problems at both ends of the pitch.

RB Leipzig returned to winning ways last weekend as they defeated Fortuna Dusseldorf 4-0 away from home. It was the perfect response to the 1-0 home defeat at the hands of Borussia Dortmund following the winter break.

Following a strong start to the season, RB Leipzig have become inconsistent and they have won four and lost four of their last eight Bundesliga matches.  Away form has not been great and trends show RB Leipzig have been defeated in five of their last six away games in all competitions.  They have failed to score a goal in four of their last six away Bundesliga matches and have lost three of the last four on the road.

However, RB Leipzig have a good recent record against Hannover and have won the last three meetings between the teams.

Looking ahead to the team news and Hannover have problems.  They will be without Ihlas Bebou, Niclas Fullkrug and Timo Hubers who are injured and Genki Haraguchi who is at the Asian Cup.  Edgar Prib and Martins Felipe are doubtful.

RB Leipzig could be without Bruma and Kevin Kampl while Amadou Haidara is almost certain to miss out with injury.

The away team are the favourites and given the poor form and injury problems of the hosts, RB Leipzig should win the match.  However, we could see a low scoring game with under 2.5 goals.